SENATOBIA - It's safe to say that the inaugural season for Northwest volleyball was certainly an unusual one.
With the season schedule altered and pushed back from Fall 2020 to the winter of 2021, Northwest spent months practicing and preparing before finally taking the court for its first regular season matches in January, where the Lady Rangers started 1-1 with a victory against Coastal Alabama-East and a close 3-2 loss at Pearl River.
In all, coach
Allison Burchyett's squad finished with a 6-12 overall record and came one win shy of advancing to the postseason, laying a solid foundation for the Lady Rangers' second season.
"I was very pleased to see our progress from last August through the end of the season," Burchyett said. "We thought we were coming into August for a fall season and that was changed to the spring, but our ladies adapted and responded well to every bump in the road. It was definitely a marathon instead of a sprint, but we improved every day and I was pleased with how they embraced their underdog status."
Having a roster chock full of returners will be another positive for Burchyett. In all, 10 student-athletes return from last season, many of whom were consistent starters.
Kapria Manning and
Julissa Soto combined to lead the Lady Rangers in total kills, with Manning compiling 126 on the season and Soto not far behind at 120. Manning also led the team with 180 assists, followed by 178 from
Alexia Davis, who also returns.
Soto will return to her outside hitting spot, along with
Sydney Sides and a handful of newcomers, most notable
Lexi Page and
De'Aisha Browner.
"In volleyball, you put a lot of effort into your outside hitter position," Burchyett said. "(And) it has to be someone who can be dominant, make plays and score points. Julissa really has done that for us. Most consider her undersized, but she played six rotations and was a real workhorse for us there.
Sydney Sides and
Allison Greene really helped us there as well. It really has to be a place where you can score points and I look to a couple newcomers like Lexi and De'Aisha to work in some there."
In the middle, Manning returns with
Chariah Mabry and
India Jeffries, but Burchyett hasn't ruled out rotating more new faces to that area as well.
"The three of them worked really hard last season," Burchyett said. "I could see De'Aisha moving to that role and pushing for some time in the middle as well. We need to do a better job there in terms of blocking and getting our timing down, so we can focus on getting a double block up to help our back row out on defense as much as possible."
Davis returns as a setter but the additions of
Brinley Steed and
Lia Ramos will also help provide some much-needed depth to a unit that was embattled by COVID-19 and concussions last season, which caused several players to work out of position.
"It was an interesting year for that unit," Burchyett reflected. "But having Brinley and Lia, combined with Alexia, should allow us to have a strong group with some depth there this season."
Defensively, Burchyett's top eight dig leaders are back for the 2021 campaign, led by libero
Kamryn Conner, who totaled a team-best 268 digs on the season. Further aiding Conner will be the return of
Taylor Smith, along with newcomer
Kayla Beal, giving the Lady Rangers three true options on the back row.
Once again, Northwest will play a road-heavy schedule for most of the season, although more home dates at Howard Coliseum are on the docket. With volleyball competing in a true fall season and not having to split time with basketball, the Lady Rangers have 13 home matches on the schedule, including eight in October.
One of the biggest home weekends for the Lady Rangers will come on Friday-Saturday, September 17-18, when Northwest hosts a crossover invitational with Itawamba. Four matches will be played across both days at Howard Coliseum against some strong out-of-state competition.
As for the Lady Rangers' road schedule, Northwest will travel to Mobile, Ala. on the last weekend in August for a total of four matches in the Wildcat Classic, hosted by Bishop State. Burchyett's club will also travel to round robin matches in Arkansas, Illinois and Alabama throughout the season.
"It will be nice to play at home a little more," Burchyett said. "We have some extensive travel lined up and some of those matches will come against four-year programs like Henderson State, Millsaps, MUW and Lyon College, so those matches will get our team some good exposure for the next level."
With only three teams in Region 23, the NJCAA has paired Northwest, Pearl River and Itawamba into postseason competition with the next-closest Division II region. The Lady Rangers came one win shy of qualifying for the Region 8 Tournament last March, falling in a play-in qualifier to ICC.
In order to accomplish her postseason goals, Burchyett and the Lady Rangers will need to get past the talented in-state rivals.
"Pearl River has a very dominant middle player in Diamond Jones, so you have to find a way to control her in order to put yourself in a better position to win," Burchyett said. "ICC has a great number of new players coming in, but they're going to be just as tough once again. Our team goal is to finish above .500. If the girls will buy in like they did last year, that's going to be an achievable goal. It's all about how we finish and that's when you want to be at your best, so if we can keep getting better every day, I think we can get back in a position to make another try at the postseason."
Northwest will open the regular season next Friday, August 20, against Pearl River. First serve is slated for 5 P.M. and live coverage will be available at nwccrangers.com/watch.
